Hill Urges Women To Fight Harassment

Anita Hill spoke out against sexual harassment, racism, classism and discrimination in a speech Monday night in Miami Beach.

``It is an interesting period of my life,`` Hill told about 120 people at the Fontainebleau Hilton attending a seminar cosponsored by Vail Seminars and the Anti-Defamation League.

Hill said she has heard hundreds of stories of unreported sexual harassment from women since she made her allegations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in October 1991.

``We`ve only begun to touch the tip of the iceberg,`` she said.

Hill said she was energized by the 1992 election in which women made significant strides in public office.

``Lawmakers are just starting to get it, and in case they don`t, there are four new women in the Senate and others in the House who will most certainly educate them.

``These women could have an impact in fighting racism and sexism,`` she said.

``Sexual harassment is learned behavior,`` she said, ``and as learned behavior, it can be unlearned with the proper training and focus.``

Working Woman magazine said Hill is in high demand as a speaker, commanding an estimated fee of $11,000.

Hill`s allegations of sexual harassment against Thomas led to a highly charged public inquiry and nearly derailed his nomination. Television viewers heard Hill and Thomas talk in graphic detail about a subject that had often been dismissed as a nonissue.

Sexual harassment continues to preoccupy workplaces as an issue in need of attention. The number of complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has risen since the Thomas hearings.

On Monday, the Supreme Court said it would decide whether a woman in a harassment lawsuit must prove she suffered severe psychological injury. The high court agreed to hear an appeal by Teresa Harris, who sued her employer, Forklift Systems. She charged she had been subjected to verbal sexual harassment by Charles Hardy, the firm`s president.

A federal judge sided with the firm, saying while Hardy`s behavior was gross and offensive, the woman failed to show she suffered psychological injury.

The Supreme Court previously has held that women can sue if they showed it was a hostile working environment.